Songs of the Humpback Whale

I just finished reading this book, by Jodi Picoult, and it was typical to Picoult's writing: emotionally charged, interesting characters, well written.

I have only recently been able to put into words an observation about writing: Just because you have an interesting story to tell doesn't make you a good writer; even if you don't have an interesting story to tell, you can still write a good story. Picoult is from the second category. Not that this wasn't an interesting story, but some aspects of the story line were cliches: a marriage in which the husband and wife have grown apart due to him being a workaholic; a daughter caught in the midst of it; the wife's past of abuse comes back to haunt her; falling in love with people they shouldn't fall in love with; the husband realizing what he is missing when the wife and daughter run away and going to find them.

But the book is incredibly well done. Same old story, yet told in an interesting way. That, to me, is a fantastic author.

One of the techniques that Picoult used to make this book unique is she wrote the story from the perspective of several different people. All of the narrators told the story front to back, except for one, who tells the story back to front. So you know what happens at the end in the very beginning of the book, but the book is so engaging that you want to read it anyway.

The Help

I'm almost finished listening to The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Definitely well worth reading, and even more worth listening to.

The Help is set in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. The book is narrated by two black maids and a young, white writer. Part of what makes it a great book to listen to is each narrator is read by a different person.

Stockett does a great job of building the characters, and I love her descriptions. The only reason I would recommend reading instead of listening would be so you could enjoy the descriptions at a more leisurely pace.

Skeeter, the white narrator, is fresh out of college and realizing that the way the black maids get treated doesn't sit well with her. She goes against her family and friends to secretly begin interviewing black maids in order to write a book. There is a lot of racial tension, but also wonderful insight into relationships.